Older LGBTs have poorer health and wellbeing, confirms report

New data analysis shows that LGBT men and women aged 50-plus have poorer self-rated health and are more likely to have other conditions that impact their wellbeing.

The analysis, reported by the International Longevity Centre (ILC), has, for the first time, demonstrated strongly that these differences persist even after accounting for other factors.

The research builds on previous evidence which shows that older LGBT people have worse outcomes across different aspects of their lives, including physical health, loneliness, social isolation, mental health and experiences of violence.

Summarising the data analysis, the ILC report’s author, Dr Brian Beach, wrote: “Action is needed to address these health inequalities for older LGBT people through improving the inclusivity of mainstream health and care provision, strengthening the training of health and care staff - potentially through the creation of a national standard or quality framework - and enhancing data collection around older LGBT people and their health and care needs.”